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McCain and Hagel's complicated history

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In 2000, candidate McCain says Hagel would make a great Defense Secretary

In 2013, McCain says he has concerns over Hagel's nomination to the post

The views of the onetime friends have "diverged dramatically," McCain says

During his 2000 presidential run, a New Hampshire voter asked Republican Sen. John McCain who he might choose as secretary of defense.

McCain responded by tossing out the name of a dear old friend and colleague, the very man who would be nominated to that post by a Democrat and frequent McCain target 13 years later.

"There's a lot of people that could do that," he told voters at a January town hall in Nashua, New Hampshire. "One of 'em, I think, is Sen. Chuck Hagel."

Now Hagel has been nominated for that same job, by McCain's 2008 campaign rival, President Barack Obama. But when the Senate Armed Services Committee meets on Thursday to discuss the nomination, McCain will be one of Hagel's biggest skeptics.

"My biggest concern is his overall attitude about the United States, our role in the world -- particularly in the Middle East and whether we should reduce the Pentagon further -- but mainly his general overall world view," McCain told CNN's Wolf Blitzer about his former colleague.

Their friendship led to a close working relationship during the 2000 presidential campaign, when Hagel served as a loyal surrogate and campaign co-chair for McCain.

Then, Hagel said his friend felt he owed the country his service. "His life has been committed to something larger than he is," Hagel said after McCain suspended his campaign effort to make way for an ascendent George W. Bush. "He's a selfless person who's given much to his country."

Later that year, Hagel introduced McCain on the stage of the party's convention with a giant embrace.

Back in the Senate, the long-time friends and combat veterans both voiced early concerns about the handling of the Iraq war.

But their views diverged as McCain came to support President Bush's proposed troop surge in 2007, a military decision that drew Hagel's scorn. He famously called the proposal "the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam if it is carried out."

Hagel and McCain spoke after the former senator's nomination to the Defense Department. Afterward, McCain said he had concerns about Hagel's positions on Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. But citing their long friendship, McCain said he would not oppose Hagel before the hearing.

"Sen. Hagel and I are, are old friends and we had a very frank and candid conversation and I'll be looking forward to the hearing and asking questions," McCain said on January 22. "I think that he should be given the opportunity of a hearing before any of us make a judgment."